By Patrick Bray DLIFLC Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – Traveling throughout the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command during the week of the U.S. Army’s 242nd birthday, Command Sgt. Maj. David Davenport, the TRADOC Command Sergeant Major, finished up at the Presidio of Monterey, California, June 16-17. During a professional development forum taking place at the Weckerling Center on the Presidio June 16, Davenport spoke with noncommissioned officers of the 229th Military Intelligence Battalion assigned as platoon sergeants, military language instructors, trainers or other leadership positions at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center. He also used the forum to give answers to questions that were brought up to him at an NCO Call during his first visit to the Institute in October 2016. As the Army birthday is a time to reflect back on 242 years of history, Davenport said the Army’s future is built upon that legacy and part of its future involves NCO education. Prior to 1973 there was little investment in the NCO, said Davenport. Then in 1973, with the establishment of TRADOC, an evaluation system was put in place to help NCOs grow and succeed, known as NCOES. Now that system is being replaced by the NCO Professional Development System to help the Army achieve its NCO 2020 Strategy, he continued. NCO 2020 requires that all leaders understand their responsibility for developing the current and next generation of NCOs. Part of this effort places an emphasis on providing the outstanding training and education needed to conduct complex missions in the future. Davenport, who considers himself a “tech guy,” knows that it is only...

By Natela Cutter DLIFLC Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – A new Center for Leadership Development opened at the Defense Language Institute Foreign language Center this March, as a result of a senior leadership summit held in summer of 2016, identifying the need for a pathway to identify leadership competencies necessary at each level of supervision at the Institute. “The Commandant of the Institute, Col. (Phil) Deppert, understands the unique challenges of leadership at a multicultural educational military institution. He identified the need for a local leadership center focused on developing those skill sets,” said Dr. Natalie Marchenko-Fryberger, who serves as the first director of the Center. The Center’s purpose is to help develop current and future leaders who are committed to promoting a highly engaged and positive workplace. The focus at the Institute is on achieving higher student proficiency levels and requires customized and innovative leadership skill sets to increase faculty collaboration and involvement in decision making. “Current leaders and faculty who are interested in career progression, which includes leadership positions, will have access to a tangible career development path,” said Fryberger. The path toward career advancement will include context specific training, mentoring and coaching as well as workshops and guest...

By Patrick Bray DLIFLC Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center observed Memorial Day during a ceremony on Soldier Field at the Presidio of Monterey, California, May 25 and honored three fallen linguists from the Vietnam War era. Col. Phil Deppert, commandant, and Ben De La Selva, founder of the DLI Alumni Association, unveiled the plaque of the Institute’s graduates who lost their lives in Southeast Asia with the three service member’s names added. Sgt. Clarence L. ‘Boone’ McNeill was killed in action February 5, 1969 when the aircraft on which he was serving as an Airborne Cryptologic Linguist was downed by enemy fire over Laos. Spc. 5 Richard Jay Hentz went missing March 4, 1971 when the aircraft on which he was serving as a Voice Interceptor was downed by enemy fire over Vietnam. Staff Sgt. Todd Michael Melton was killed in action February 5, 1973 when the aircraft on which he was serving as an Airborne Cryptologic Linguist was downed by enemy fire over southern Laos. The Institute has honored fallen linguists dating back to 1963, when official documentation began, which includes more than 330 graduates who gave their lives for their country. The annual ceremony consists of a formation of troops in their dress uniforms representing all four service detachments, ceremonial cannon fire and the playing of taps. Memorial Day dates back to the end of the Civil War as towns across America honored those who died in the war. The tradition continued as the U.S. fought in other wars, and it became an official federal holiday in 1971 as...

By Master Sgt. Igor Poklad DTRA Linguist Liaison Office MONTEREY, Calif. – Seven students at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Interpreting Course and one Advanced Russian student received awards from the American Council of Teachers of Russian for their entries in the “18th Annual National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest.” All eight students were recognized May 23 at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center Continuing Education Directorate located in Seaside, California. Staff Sgt. Hunter Behrens received a silver medal in Category A, Level 4 (Students who do not and have never spoken Russian or any other Slavic language at home, who have had more than 400 contact hours of instruction in Russian). Sgt. Samuel DeBolt, Staff Sgt. Kyle Tomaszewski and Staff Sgt. Yadgar Raswll received honorable mention in this category. Sgt. Aaron Jaramillo received Honorable Mention in Category A, Level 3 (Students who do not and have never spoken Russian or any other Slavic language at home and have had more than 250 contact hours, but fewer than 400 contact hours of instruction in Russian). Tech. Sgt. Dmitriy Sklyar and Sgt. Khurshed Madaminov received a silver medal in Category C, Level 4 (Students who speak Russian with their families, and who attended school for fewer than five years in Russia or the former Soviet Union and may have had to relearn reading and writing skills after emigration, and who have had fewer than 60 contact hours of instruction in college). Petty Officer 1st Class Eugenijus Kulesovas received a bronze medal in this category. In this year’s contest, 1,326 essays were submitted from 67 universities, colleges, and institutions from...

By Natela Cutter DLIFLC Public Affairs MONTEREY, Calif. – An estimated 5,000 people attended DLIFLC’s annual Language Day Open House event on Friday, May 12th, on the Presidio of Monterey. It was a fun-filled day with more than 40 cultural performances, dance, song, special presentations and classroom demonstrations. Students, from of all four branches of the services, along with instructors, prepare for months before the annual event that draws in thousands of high school students and educators from all over northern California and as far away as Brazil. “I look forward to this event every year and try to come back to participate in some of the workshops,” said Mirko Hall, professor of German Studies and Chair of Languages, Cultures and Literatures at Converse College, South Carolina. Hall graduated from the Modern Standard Arabic program in 1992. Adding to the excitement this year was the introduction of live streaming for the event, which enabled an additional 900 people to view the event. “We watched it from Spain – thanks for live-streaming it so we could see our son!” said one couple via DLIFLC’s Facebook page. According to YouTube analytics, viewers from 20 different countries saw the event live. The Commander of the Presidio of Monterey, Col. Lawrence Brown, used the occasion of Language Day and the open post to invite Vietnam veterans to recognize sacrifice for the nation. Sixty one veterans were presented the U.S. Army’s pin recognizing their service during the 1960s and 1970s. Language Day normally takes place on the second Friday in May each year. The exact date of the next open house event will take...

By Siyi (Lois) Gao DLIFLC Asian School I SAN FRANCISCO – Sixty-eight Mandarin Chinese language students at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center participated in the 42nd Annual Mandarin Speech contest in San Francisco April 22, with 31 DLI students winning awards. This year, 415 registered contestants from 38 schools and universities in California participated in this contest, in which the DLIFLC students competed with students from U.C. Berkeley, U.C. Davis, U.C. Irvine, the University of San Francisco, San Francisco State University, and many others. According to the event organizer, the Chinese Language Teachers Association of California, DLIFLC students won a total of 31 prizes including six first-place winners, six second-place winners, four third-place winners, and 15 honorable mentions. Professor Patrick Lin, academic specialist at DLIFLC’s Asian School I, was impressed by the results. “Considering DLIFLC students participated in just 10 contestant groups, this result is really excellent,” said Lin. “DLI students outperformed their rivals from other universities and colleges again this year, showcasing the high quality of our Chinese program, which we are all proud of. I think there are three factors contributing to our students’ great success in the contest – hard work by our Chinese language faculty, high motivation by our students, and strong support from the school management.” Dr. Janette Edwards, dean of Asian School I, along with 58 Chinese faculty members, attended the speech contest to support the event held at Lowell High School in San Francisco. Edwards was also one of the award presenters during the award ceremony at the end of the day-long event. “I am so pleased, but not at...